Insult added to injury for vandalized Mission store

Published 4:00 am, Friday, May 4, 2012

Weston Wear had all its windows broken on Valencia Street. Police and merchants were hit by vandals along Valencia Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 30. 2012.

Weston Wear had all its windows broken on Valencia Street. Police and merchants were hit by vandals along Valencia Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 30. 2012.

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle

Insult added to injury for vandalized Mission store

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To the folks at Weston Wear, it was like getting salt rubbed in their wound.

The day after a marauding band of Occupy protesters smashed the Valencia Street clothing store's windows, the owners got another jolt - a city citation notice for having graffiti on the plywood they had put over the vandalized windows.

"It was just a head-scratcher to us," said Bridget Moore, the store manager. "It seemed there was no thought as to why we had a bunch of plywood up."

The store's four windows were smashed in the Monday night protest - ostensibly held over income inequality - and Weston Wear had them boarded up later that night. The next morning, Moore said, she discovered a small graffiti tag on the plywood.

"It seemed to be somebody's initials," Moore said. "I was just like, 'Ugh, one more thing to deal with.' "

But in a city plagued by complaints that officials are nickel-and-diming residents to death with things like rising parking ticket fines and putting parking meters in some residential areas, things were just getting started.

Moore said that Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the protest turned violent, she found a city notice of citation taped on the plywood saying they had 30 days to remove the graffiti or face an escalating $500 fine.

"I just looked at is as more salt to a wound," Moore said. "It was really bad timing."

She took to Twitter to complain and on Thursday received a call from a Department of Public Works official apologizing about the incident, voiding the notice and offering to help.

"We're looking into it and identifying where the breakdown was," Chan said. "We're definitely mindful of what happened, and we completely apologize. We want to help these businesses get back on their feet again."

Repairing the damage: Valencia Street looked like a war zone Monday night as groups of police officers crunched through broken glass and assessed the smashed car windows and shattered storefronts - the handiwork of about 100 to 150 demonstrators in a 15-minute burst of fury.

With dozens of small, locally owned businesses damaged and some closed for repairs, community members have since created a WePay account to raise money to aid their local haunts.

"Let's step up and show them that the community supports them when others try to drive them out," the page reads.

The page was created Tuesday morning by Ben Blumenfeld, 33, a designer at Facebook.

"When something like this happens, instead of venting frustration, I think what the community needs is to step up and do something," he said.

More than $6,700 has already been raised. The goal is to raise $10,000, but that could increase since Blumenfeld asked business owners to let him know the extent of the damages. He said he was still working to coordinate where the money will go, but wants to give it to the businesses who were hit the worst and need the help the most.

The destruction began at about 9 p.m. Monday, when protesters split from an Occupy rally in Dolores Park that was held in advance of Tuesday's May Day actions. Traveling down 18th Street and onto Valencia Street, they inflicted mayhem on storefronts and cars, splashing paint, throwing eggs and smashing whatever they could.

While the vandals began the evening ostensibly as part of the Occupy rally, many Occupy protesters have shunned the breakaway group as outliers - and some have even donated to the fund.

"Having worked with Occupy SF since October I just want you all to know this did not come from us!" protester Rachael Atchisoncommented on the WePay page. "I am so sorry for the senseless destruction."

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